Sorai in Carina Brings Homestyle Burmese Cooking to Brisbane

Burmese cuisine is relatively hard to find in Brisbane, despite our sizable Myanmar-born community (more than 3400 in Greater Brisbane according to the 2021 Census). The cuisine has been largely confined to stalls at the Global Food Markets in Woodridge and Kelvin Grove Village Market (Slurp Burmese), with bricks-and-mortar restaurants notably absent.

That changed in late June when Warisan’s Alfie Musthafa partnered with three Myanmar-born friends – Laga “Bosco” Htoi, Min Hein Kyaw and Su Sabai Zaw – to open Sorai, a homestyle Burmese restaurant in Carina. The idea came after Htoi, who has worked with Musthafa for more than five years, took him to the Global Food Markets.

“He took me to the markets and introduced me to Burmese food at his auntie’s stall,” Musthafa says. “I thought, ‘This is so good, why are there no Burmese restaurants in Brisbane?’”

Htoi then introduced Musthafa to Kyaw and Zaw, and the four started discussing how they could share Burmese cuisine with a wider audience. When a tenancy became available in the strip of shops on Old Cleveland Road at Carina, they quickly snapped it up.

“The restaurant is on a main road and there’s lots of residential area at the back,” Musthafa says. “It’s a prime location for our concept because we’re also focusing on takeaway and delivery.”

The menu leans heavily towards homey, traditional Burmese cooking, which typically features pickled vegetables, curries, salads, and rice and noodle dishes. The lahpet thoke, a salad of fermented tea leaves, is a standout. The team seasons and marinates the tea leaves, before tossing them with cabbage, tomato, crunchy soybeans, peanuts and crispy garlic. It’s a fresh, deeply savoury salad packed with texture.

Other specialties include mohinga, Myanmar’s national dish of fish noodle soup; Burmese chicken curry; and a kyaw sone, an assorted fritter platter featuring house-made tofu, onion, winter melon and potato served with a tamarind dipping sauce.

There’s also a handful of familiar Thai and Indonesian dishes for those easing into the menu, including pad thai, beef massaman and mie goreng.

Inside, Sorai feels warm and welcoming, with a simple yellow, black and white fit-out, accented by decorations including traditional Burmese lacquerware. To drink, there’s Burmese milk tea, a couple of Felons beers on tap, and a concise cocktail list including a Mango Sticky Rice Pina Colada.

Sorai

850 Old Cleveland Road, Carina

07 2143 6221

Hours:

Mon to Thu 11am–9pm

Fri & Sat 11am–9.30pm

Sun 11am–9pm

sorai.au

@sorai.au